A first embodiment disclosed herein relates to a barbecue grill charcoal grate which is formed from a sheet metal material. Charcoal grates, which are configured to hold charcoal briquettes or other solid cooking fuel, are well known in the art. Most charcoal grates are constructed from a plurality of transversely oriented wires or rods which are aligned in meshing relationship (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,841,299 and 4,463,746). Other charcoal grates are tray-like structures which are constructed from sheet metal, such as the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,994,316; 3,828,759; and 5,293,859. The charcoal trays disclosed in these patents include horizontally aligned structures (or lips), which extend from vertically aligned sidewalls and form a perimeter for the tray, to support the tray in the grill firebox. In that manner, the surface area available for holding charcoal briquettes (the area bounded by the vertically oriented sidewalls) is somewhat reduced.
For the most part, the prior art charcoal trays are rectangular shaped, thereby corresponding with the shape of the firebox. Such a configuration is desirable (i.e. correspondingly shaped charcoal tray and firebox) as it allows the grate to utilize as much of the inside area of the firebox as possible (less the area lost due to the horizontal lips). In that manner, the charcoal tray allows the placement of ignited charcoal briquettes directly under a majority of the cooking surface for more even cooking of food. It can be appreciated that the rectangular design of the previously mentioned charcoal trays would not lend itself well to circular, kettle type grills, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,814. In that patent, a charcoal holding surface comprised of two or more trays is disclosed, each of which are pie shaped. While the configuration shown in the '814 patent effectively utilizes most of the cross-sectional area of the firebox, the configuration does have its drawbacks. For example, the configuration requires support within the firebox both at the edges and at the center of the firebox. Moreover, the configuration requires the use of at least two separate trays.
There has been a recent trend to make portable barbecue grills more aesthetically pleasing, whereby manufacturers utilize more complex shapes than previously used. One example of such a grill is the Weber® Q™ line of gas-fired barbecue grills, which can be seen at www.weber.com. These barbecue grills utilize a cooking chamber which is generally dome-shaped, whereby the cross-section of the firebox is generally oval shaped. The simple charcoal trays disclosed in the prior art are not well suited to make optimal use of the inside space of such a barbecue grill while at the same time utilizing a simple and inexpensive support mechanism.
A second embodiment disclosed herein relates to a charcoal grill firebox which includes dual-purpose nesting features. It is well known across various arts to design components to allow stacking of the components during shipping or storage. Sometimes, the manufacturer will include male and female nesting features which are configured to mate when the components are stacked, whereby the nesting features engage to resist relative movement between adjacent components. For example, Weber® currently uses one version of a nesting feature for its Q™ series grills, whereby the firebox includes depressions on the inside surface which are configured to receive the legs of a second firebox when stacked.